It all added up to a 27-3 loss to Bay City John Glenn Saturday at Curtis Field, ending Petoskey's dream season in a Division 3 district championship game.

"We had our opportunities, but give them a lot of credit," said Petoskey coach Kerry VanOrman, "I thought they did a good job up front on both sides of the ball.

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"We could never really sustain enough offensively to keep it rolling. The penalties just killed us today, they just killed us. Especially when you're not getting the yards that we've gotten this year. That really adds to the fire. That was big."

True, penalties and two interceptions - the first thrown by quarterback Hunter Keiswetter all season - were big factors. But the biggest was Glenn fullback Tyler Clemons, a 5-foot-11, 210-pound wrecking ball who went for 205 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries.

"Every coach would love to have him in his group," said Glenn coach Mark Miller, whose team, 9-2, advances to the regional championship game at East Grand Rapids, 10-1, next week.

The Bobcats finished with 283 yards rushing, by far the most surrendered all season by a Northmen defense that entered the game allowing an average of 106.6. In contrast, the Northmen finished with 139 yards on the ground, their second-lowest total of the year, and they came in averaging 288.2.

"Defensively I think they owned the line of scrimmage, and that was the difference in the game," VanOrman said.

Limiting Petoskey's normally potent running game was nothing more than beating the Northmen at the point of attack, Miller said.

"We had two (defensive) plans," he said. "We had Plan A and Plan B and we knew if we had to go to Plan B, things weren't going that well, and we never had to go to Plan B.

"Not one time did we deviate from our base defense … The kids played very quick, with a lot of emotion on defense, and (Petoskey) had some turnovers."

Clemons put the Northmen on their heels right from the get-go as he bolted 53 yards for a touchdown on the fourth play of the game. He later added a 60-yard run and only once was Petoskey able to stop him for no gain.

"He's a good fullback, runs hard and I knew he was going to be tough," VanOrman said. "Their offensive line did a good job of opening some nice holes for him. When he gets into that second level (of the defense), he breaks a tackle, he's a load."

Trailing 7-0 before they touched the football, the Northmen got 17 yards on their first play from scrimmage, courtesy of a Mike Suter run. But Petoskey was flagged for an illegal procedue on its next play, and the 17-yard run turned out to be Suter's longest run of the game.

Three plays later, Andrew Martin intercepted a Keiswetter pass and returned it to Petoskey's 45-yard line. The Bobcats cashed in with a 32-yard Ty Richards field goal for a 10-0 lead with 4 minutes, 29 seconds left in the first quarter.

The teams traded field goals in the second quarter - Grant Reed connected for the Northmen from 25 yards, Richards booted a 17-yarder - and Glenn led, 13-3, at halftime.

Reed's field goal capped Petoskey's best drive of the game as it went from its own 35 to Glenn's 7 in 16 plays, but it was indicative of the kind of game it was for Petoskey: Nothing came easily.

And, every time the Northmen appeared to get some momentum rolling, a penalty set them back and eventually squelched potential scoring drives. Petoskey was flagged six times for 58 yards, and each succeeding penalty not only set the Northmen back on the field, but seemed to sap their morale.

Case in point: After holding the Bobcats to a missed field goal attempt late in the third quarter, the Northmen, still trailing 13-3, took over at their own 20. Keiswetter connected with Suter for a big gainer near midfield, but a holding penalty wiped out the play, pushing the Northmen back to their own 10-yard line.

That led to a punt, and Glenn taking over at the Northmen 40. Brandon Wrzeskinski capped the drive with a 2-yard TD run less than a minute into the fourth quarter, extending Glenn's lead to 20-3.

"Beginning of the fourth quarter, I think our kids were trying to make plays, pressing a little bit," VanOrman said, adding that as often is the case, pressing and "trying to do too much" leads to penalties. "You just can't do that. We've got to keep our composure and do what we do best."

Martin intercepted a Keiswetter pass on Petoskey's next possession, returned it 39 yards to Petoskey's 21, and Clemons did the rest, rumbling for a 10-yard TD run to complete the scoring with 7:26 left.